According to Government of Alberta and Saskatchewan websites , over 47,000 people die in Canada each year from smoking. The Ministry of Health in the province is responsible for developing and controling The Tobacco Control Act and The Tobacco Control Regulations. The goal of this is to reduce access to tobacco products to youth and protect residents from the harms associated with environmental tobacco smoke.The Act was first started in 2002 and has since been tweaked, most noticeably in 2005 and 2010. Laws that were introduced include a ban on smoking in enclosed public places, in cars with children under the age of 16 present, around doorways, windows and air intakes of public buildings, a ban on tobacco use on school grounds, and a number of restrictions on the sale and advertising of tobacco products.Each year a world-wide No Tobacco Day is held, where citizens are asked to abstain from smoking for 24 hours.Along with smoking there are many other types of tobacco that people never seem to see the harms of. These include smokeless tobacco as well as chewing tobacco and snuff, that contain many of the same harmful and addictive substances as cigarettes, pipes and cigars. Smokeless tobacco is still a major cause of cancer of the mouth and throat. It can also cause major dental problems such as recession of the gums, tooth loss and discoloration of the teeth and gums.The World Health Organization (WHO) has selected this years theme as "Tobacco Industry Interference", which will take place on May 31, 2012.Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death. The global tobacco epidemic kills nearly 6 million people each year, of which more than 600,000 are people exposed to second-hand smoke. Unless we act, it will kill up to 8 million people by 2030, of which more than 80% will live in low- and middle-income countries.World No Tobacco Day 2012 is meant to educate policy-makers and the general public about the tobacco industry's nefarious and harmful tactics.On World No Tobacco Day 2012, and throughout the following year, WHO will urge countries to put the fight against tobacco industry interference at the heart of their efforts to control the global tobacco epidemic.Join in on Thursday. If you are a smoker, try going a day without the cigarettes or cut down your usage for 24 hours. If you don't use tobacco, you can educate others on the harms on this world day.
For more information check out Health Canada's website.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index-eng.php
